What is Web hosting?

Web hosting
(or Web site hosting)
is the provision of equipment and services
to maintain, and make accessible over the Internet,
files for one or more Web sites.

Costs

Rates vary from "free" up,
depending on the ISP or Web hosting service
and the services provided.
Additional charges are often incurred for setup,
for use beyond certain limits,
and for extra services such as Web hosting.
Lower rates may be given to charities and other nonprofits.

Services

Various services may be provided.

A software package to facilitate access (e.g., AOL).

For some types of services,
a special modem.

For dial-up access,
a username, password, and phone number.

A shell account
(a dialup account based on a Unix command-line interface).

Access to Internet services.

World Wide Web.

USENET.

E-mail.

POP.

IMAP.

Mail forwarding.

Web based interface.

List server.

Direct TCP/IP connections.

Virtual Private Networking (VPN).

Information on your account(s).

Web hosting.

Disk space.

Domain name registration.

DNS record hosting.

Server extensions (e.g., for FrontPage),
so that interactive features can be used.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

Technical support

Telephone.

E-mail.

Online help pages.

Policies

Policies are mostly designed to protect the service provider
and cover such areas as the following.

Access rights

Billing,
including NSF fees.

Selecting and changing passwords and login names.

Temporary and permanent suspension and cancellation.

Security.

Acceptable use
and remedies for abuses.

Some Problems

Oversold bandwidth.

Taking on too many customers.

Too many dial in lines
for the bandwidth of the Internet connection.

Misrepresentation of services.

Claiming to have a higher bandwidth line than they do.

Promising special services that do not materialize.

Going out of business
(especially if customers have paid in advance).

Lack of security.

Lax policies or policy enforcement
(causing the entire service to be put on blacklists
because of spamming by some subscribers, for example).

Relying on a single Tier 1 upstream carrier.
(If this carrier goes down,
most of the Internet will be inaccessible;
or, if a peering arrangement with another Tier 1 carrier is terminated,
a part of the Internet may become inaccessible.)

For More Information

Bissonnette, M. 2007.
Canadian ISP - Find an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Canada.
http://www.canadianisp.com/.
(Information on about 350 ISPs serving cities in Canada.
Results are displayed in random order,
except that sponsors are listed first.)